It may be a school night, but all is not quiet in The Capital. At the darker end of the UC campus, Girl Power has come alive: Stonefield are touring their new eponymous album – supported by SHE REX and Lester the Fierce. They may be halfway through an almost two-month long tour up and down the east coast, but the energy was pumping for all three bands.

First on stage was Melbourne artist Lester the Fierce creating imaginary soundtracks for Lynch-esque movies with her evocative and moving vocals, inspired by bands like Garbage and Portishead. Behind the strong female lead is a four-piece band lifting and supporting Lester’s mood-changing vocals, showcased on their song “January” with its mellow mood and delay-soaked slide guitar.

Next up was sassy rap rock with SHE REX. An all-girl four-piece that looked barely out of high school but playing with enough brazen impudence to entice the crowd towards the stage. Part Faith No More, part Rage Against The Machine and a whole lotta SHE REX it was a vibe that captured and engaged the crowd.

While the singer confidently rapped and strutted out front, the keyboard player’s bass lines and backup vocals, the drummer’s solid beat and a great guitarist evocative of early Chilli Peppers, filled out the rest of the big sound.

SHE REX had attitude! The singer was focused on engaging the crowd and when they ripped into a version of Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing In The Name Of” the crowd was theirs. As one, the crowd pumped their fists into the air chanting “F@#K YOU, I won’t do what you tell me!!!”

Now it was time for hard-rocking hippy headliners, Stonefield, and if you wanted a place down front, it was time to play human Tetris. The band wase straight into it – rocking like it’s 1969 with black jeans, biker boots, long hair banging in time and fuzzed-out guitars scaring the neighbours as the girls wave their freak flag high.

The crowd is instantly in the palms of their hands and Stonefield confidently stride into some struttin’ 70s boogie as they prove that “cock rock” is a figure of speech, not an anatomical necessity. Even the stoic bouncer started boppin’ his head.

The spirit of Woodstock and every hard rocking hippy band was alive and kicking through this energetic five-piece. We felt the spirit of ‘69 wash over us, baptising our grateful souls into their hard rockin’ hippy congregation. All praise the Fuzz Guitar.

This night has proved that Gen Y can rock, and the kids are alright.

All images by Brianna Olzen Photography